Gulf finance ministers adopted yesterday a proposal to impose value-added tax (VAT) while deferring a final decision to heads of state, a source at their meeting here said.
The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC’s) committee for financial and economic cooperation asked the general secretariat of the six-nation bloc to prepare studies for imposing VAT by 2007, the source said.
“The decision was referred to the forthcoming GCC summit convening in Bahrain (in December),� the source added. The move is a tentative step towards applying taxes on sales, possibly replacing customs duties in countries of the bloc that impose such duties.
